NZHistory, New Zealand history online This week in history

27/05/1987 - Death of Colin McCahon

Colin McCahon was one of New Zealand's greatest painters. A risk-taker and non-conformist, he engaged with questions of religion, faith and the human condition through his art.

28/05/1920 - Fingerprints help convict murderer

In the Auckland Supreme Court, Dennis Gunn was convicted of the murder of a postmaster and sentenced to death. In what was claimed to be a world first for a capital crime, Gunn's conviction was based almost entirely on fingerprint evidence.

29/05/1953 - Hillary and Tenzing conquer Everest

A beekeeper from New Zealand, Edmund Hillary, and the Nepalese Sherpa Tenzing Norgay became the first people to reach the summit of the world's tallest peak.

30/05/1959 - Auckland harbour bridge opened

The four-lane bridge was built across the narrowest part of Auckland Harbour, between St Marys Bay and Northcote Point. It took four years to complete and soon had to be enlarged.

30/05/1996 - New royal honours established

A totally New Zealand Royal Honours System was established with the institution of the New Zealand Order of Merit, which replaced the various British State Orders of Chivalry.

30/05/1901 - NZ says no to federation with Australia

A 10-man Royal Commission reported unanimously that New Zealand should not become a state of the new Commonwealth of Australia.

31/05/1975 - Mona Blades vanishes

Eighteen-year-old Mona Blades was last seen sitting in the back seat of an orange Datsun station wagon. Her body was never found and her disappearance has never been explained.

03/06/1936 - Colin 'Pinetree' Meads born

The legendary All Black lock was a physically tough, uncompromising player. Rugby writer Lindsay Knight described Colin Meads as New Zealand's equivalent of Australia's Sir Donald Bradman or American Babe Ruth as a sporting legend.

04/06/1943 - Rail tragedy at Hyde

The Cromwell-Dunedin express, travelling at speed, derailed at Hyde, killing 21 people and injuring 47. The driver was later found guilty of manslaughter.

05/06/1866 - Te Kooti deported to Chathams

The future prophet and military leader was deported with Pai Mārire prisoners to the Chatham Islands. He had been accused of spying for the enemy while fighting with government troops.

06/06/1823 - Wesleyan mission established

Samuel Leigh and William White established Wesleydale, a Wesleyan (Methodist) mission station at Kaeo. Leigh was friendly with Samuel Marsden of the Church Missionary Society and the two missions worked closely together.

07/06/1917 - The Battle of Messines

The Battle of Messines was a prelude to the much larger Third Battle of Ypres, better known as Passchendaele. New Zealanders played a prominent role in this successful action but paid a heavy price: 3700 casualties, including 700 dead.

07/06/1940 - Fighter ace Edgar ‘Cobber’ Kain killed

Known to others as ‘Killer Kain’, the Hastings-born pilot's exploits flying Hurricanes for the RAF’s No. 73 Squadron in the first year of the Second World War had made him a household name.

07/06/1976 - McDonald's arrives in NZ

The Golden Arches appeared for the first time in New Zealand at Cobham Court, Porirua. Twenty years later the American fast-food giant would have 100 outlets around the country.

08/06/1987 - New Zealand goes nuclear-free

The New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act was passed into law, establishing this country as a nuclear and biological weapon-free zone

09/06/1868 - Tītokowaru's war begins

Three settlers were killed near Ketemarae, Hāwera, by Ngā Ruahine warriors acting on the spiritual leader's orders. This signalled a change of strategy in the Māori response to land confiscation.

09/06/1909 - Public Trust Office building opens

Prime Minister Sir Joseph Ward opened the Public Trust Office Building in Lambton Quay, Wellington. The occassion was marked by a lunchtime banquet and a concert and dance later that evening

10/06/1886 - Eruption of Mt Tarawera

The eruption lasted six hours and caused massive destruction. Several villages were destroyed, along with most of the famous silica hot springs known as the Pink and White Terraces. Around 120 people, nearly all Māori, lost their lives

10/06/1906 - Death of Richard Seddon

Known as 'King Dick', Seddon had dominated New Zealand politics since the early 1890s. His Liberal government established the tradition of state-supported welfare in this country.

11/06/1901 - Cornwall Park gifted to Auckland

At a civic reception for the visiting Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York, Mayor John Logan Campbell handed over the deed to land around One Tree Hill (Maungakiekie). The new park was named in honour of the royal couple.

12/06/1942 - First US troops arrive in Auckland

Between 1942 and 1944 about 100,000 American servicemen were stationed in New Zealand as part of the Allies' counter-offensive against Japan. This American ‘invasion’ led to a considerable clash of cultures.

13/06/1866 - Murder on the Maungatapu track

Having murdered George Dobson a fortnight earlier, and a prospector the day before, the Burgess gang continued their killing spree on the track between Canvastown and Nelson. Four men were ambushed and slain in a crime that stunned the colony.

14/06/1984 - Muldoon calls snap election

Prime Minister Robert Muldoon surprisingly announced a snap election for 14 July, hoping to catch the opposition Labour Party under-prepared. The gamble backfired and National suffered a heavy defeat.

15/06/1935 - Lovelock wins ‘Mile of the century’

In June 1935 Lovelock returned to Princeton – the scene of his 1933 world record – to compete against the top American milers in what the media later dubbed the ‘Mile of the Century’

15/06/1959 - Chinese gooseberry becomes kiwifruit

The prominent produce company Turners and Growers announced that it would from now on export Chinese gooseberries under the name 'kiwifruit'. First grown here in 1906, kiwifruit are now cultivated worldwide, with New Zealand-grown fruit marketed as 'Zespri'.

16/06/1923 - Baby-farmer Daniel Cooper hanged

A generation after the execution of the infamous Minnie Dean, the murder trial of Daniel and Martha Cooper revealed that 'baby farming' was still seen as a solution to the problem of unwanted children in 1920s New Zealand.

17/06/1843 - The Wairau incident

Also known as the ‘Wairau Affray’ and ‘Wairau Massacre’, this was the first serious clash of arms between Māori and British settlers after the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. Four Māori and 22 Europeans were killed.

18/06/1895 - Minnie Dean goes on trial

Minnie Dean's trial for murdering a baby placed in her care began at the Invercargill Supreme Court. The 'Winton baby-farmer' was found guilty three days later and hanged on 12 August.

19/06/1940 - Niagara sunk by German mines off Northland

The Second World War arrived in New Zealand with a bang when the trans-Pacific liner Niagara was sunk by a German mine off the Northland coast. All 349 people on board were rescued.

20/06/1987 - All Blacks win the first World Cup

With Michael Jones, John Kirwan and captain David Kirk scoring tries, the All Blacks defeated France 29-9 at Eden Park, Auckland. Kirk became the first captain to lift the Webb Ellis Cup.

20/06/1943 - US Navy tragedy at Paekākāriki

Ten United States Navy personnel were drowned off Paekākāriki near Wellington during a beach landing exercise.

21/06/1964 - The Beatles land in NZ

Beatlemania hit New Zealand when 7000 hysterical fans greeted the Fab Four in Wellington during their 'Far East' tour.

22/06/1954 - Parker-Hulme murder in Christchurch

Armed with a brick in a stocking, 16-year-old Pauline Parker and her best friend Juliet Hulme, 15, became two of New Zealand's most notorious female murderers when they killed Pauline's mother, Honora, in Victoria Park, Christchurch.

23/06/1973 - World Court condemns French nuclear tests

The ruling by the International Court of Justice was part of New Zealand's long campaign to end French nuclear testing in the Pacific. The French ignored the court's injunction to cease testing.

24/06/1905 - New Zealand Truth hits the news stands

Truth prided itself on being 'the champion of the little person and the scourge of corruption and scandal in high places'. At its peak in the 1950s and 1960s, it was read in half of New Zealand's households.

25/06/1860 - Death of the first Māori King

The Māori King movement came into existence in the late 1850s as an attempt to unite the tribes, prevent land sales and make laws for Māori. Pōtatau Te Wherowhero became the first Māori King in 1858, but died two years later.

26/06/1918 - Wimmera sunk by German mine

The steamer Wimmera, bound from Auckland to Sydney, struck a mine laid north of Cape Maria van Diemen in 1917 by the German raider Wolf. Twenty-six of its 151 passengers and crew were lost.

27/06/1975 - Mark Williams hits no. 1

'Yesterday was just the beginning of my life' topped the New Zealand music charts for three weeks. Williams successfully combined soul and pop with an image that merged glam rock with disco.

28/06/1914 - Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand

The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife Sophie in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914 eventually led to the outbreak of the First World War.

28/06/1973 - HMNZS Otago sails for Mururoa test zone

Prime Minister Norman Kirk told the crew of the Otago that by sailing to France's nuclear testing area they would act as a 'silent witness with the power to bring alive the conscience of the world'.

29/06/1990 - World's first female diocesan Anglican bishop appointed

Dr Penny Jamieson, who had been ordained as a priest in 1985, became the Anglican bishop of Dunedin − the first woman in the world to hold such a position. She retired in 2004.

30/06/1939 - First issue of New Zealand Listener published

Free to all radio licence holders, the New Zealand Listener soon expanded beyond its original brief to publicise radio programmes. Today it is the country's only national weekly current affairs and entertainment magazine.